The investigation into frauds committed by Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk has revealed that he unwittingly made a sought-after stem cell breakthrough.
In the course of research, which culminated with false claims that stem cells had been extracted from a cloned human embryo, Hwang's team succeded in extracting cells from eggs …

COMMENTS

Frozen Zoo

There are people working on creating a genetic library of existing biodiversity that could theoretically be deployed to repopulate species driven to extension in years to come. I think we are a step closer....

Ahhh

David Brin strikes again

Off Topic: Ethical

Is there an ethical problem with using reserch that was done without safegaurds we use at home. Not to Godwin but a lot was learnt from the nazi medical experiments although most were pointless as well as being inhumane and genocidal.

The locomotion of people walking as seen through a constant X-ray (I think) was used by Western researchers even though it came from the death of those involved.

If other places around the world do research (far worse than this) in a scattergun approach withouth safeguards, can we then pick through and gain results from their cruelty and apply it to medicine. The basic parts of a Lab are becoming more self contained, automated and low cost in my laymans understanding. Especially around time consuming procedures involving DNA.

Re: Ethics.

Playing devil's advocate:

Would it be ethical to _not_ use such research? And at what point does it stop? What happens if it's not research but completed technology we're handed? What about research that was done 100 years ago to different standards?

Surely, the most ethical stance would be to eradicate suffering througout in the world, so that such issues don't arise. Until that happens, I suppose we fall back on the platitude "It gives their deaths meaning."